TAKEDA TO DOUBLE US MEDICAL REPRESENTATIVES

According to local sources, Japanese drug major Takeda plans to increase its US sales presence, increasing its medical representatives to roughly 4,000. The company already has some 2,000 representatives at its joint venture with US drugmaker Abbott Laboratories.

Takeda reportedly claims that the new hires will support launches for three new drugs by fiscal 2006, and a joint venture with Eli Lilly will market a new diabetes treatment. However, Takeda's novel insomnia treatment has not yet received US FDA approval, and last month the company was reported to have withdrawn its TAK-559 diabetes compound from clinical trials. The drug had been intended as a successor to the company's existing blockbuster diabetes therapy Actos.